


Family Bonding

by Edens_Spilled_Ink



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Ben's death story, Familial bonding, Klaus' powers, Past Child Abuse, Reginald Hargreeves' A+ Parenting, Reginald gets what he deserves, Reginald makes me so mad so I wrote this, Self-Indulgent, or at least my headcannon of it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-25
Updated: 2019-02-25
Packaged: 2019-11-05 10:52:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17917382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Edens_Spilled_Ink/pseuds/Edens_Spilled_Ink
Summary: "Diego literally couldn’t handle it so he fell, sliding down the wall and banging his fist on the drywall. Allison had tears in her eyes, red in the face and laughing so hard she couldn’t seem to catch herself long enough to drag air back into her lungs."What is the matter with you kids?" Oh, Reginald was frustrated now, it was the first time Vanya had seen him yell since she’d refused to water-board Five when they were seven. It was something about how ridiculous this all was - that the man that terrorized them for years, tortured them, killed them in Ben’s case, had been reduced to nothing but a screaming man child that couldn’t hurt them anymore, Vanya had to stop looking at him just to catch her breath long enough to talk.“Awwww does Weginald need his binkie?” She wheezed, and then went Five, banging his fists on the floor and wheezing next to Diego."Klaus sees Reginald, and his siblings are there to back him up. Hilarity ensues.





	Family Bonding

“Klaus, are you okay?”

It was a dumb question, but Diego asked it anyway - him and the other four Hargreeves children standing in the doorway to Klaus’ cold, dark room, covered from ceiling to floor in scribbles because Klaus wasn’t the kind of kid who learned not to draw on the walls. Wasn’t the type of person to sit on his bed for hours in the dark staring into empty air, either, the door left open so Luther found him while trying to call everyone to dinner - and yet there he was, glass eyed and curled in on himself. He was empty. It reminded them of how he’d always looked when Dad had ragged on him about what a waste he was, what a disappointment and an embarrassment he was being. Like the time when he came out on national television when he was thirteen, and Dad had hissed and spat at him for hours.

“Did you see Ben how he looked when he… when he passed, again?” Vanya asked quietly, and everybody else shivered. Every so often, Ben would forget to change away from the form of a small child, with a melting face and seared flesh, and Klaus would have to see him. And then he’d cry. For hours. Maybe it was Ben he was staring at. But Klaus wasn’t crying, he was staring off into nothing - no trace of a smile or a grin in his eyes.

Something about the Ben comment seemed to ignite something in him, however, and he shifted. Opened his mouth to say something, then closed it, then shook his head.

“It’s your fault he’s dead, you know,” Klaus whispered without turning his head, and immediately the Hargreeves kids either moved to defend themselves like Luther and Five - or just nodded like they already knew, like Vanya, Allison, and Diego. Luther pushed in front of them, clearing his throat for a speech, but Klaus interrupted him without even noticing he was there. “No, dad. I _am_ right. It was your fault.”

The siblings looked at each other in confusion, and stared at Klaus with wide eyes. Dad was there? Dad was in the room with them, and Klaus could see him?

“What do you mean it was _necessary for his training_ ? He was a child, and you locked him in a _burning shed_ and told him to summon a demon from another dimension to help him. And then he _died_ . Because of you. So yes, it _is_ your fault - and no I’m not high, I’m _right_ , and you know it - you’re just trying to get in my head!” Klaus yelled, plucking a lamp up off the bedside table with manicured hands and hurling it at the wall in front of him. Dad appeared, blue and real and _there_ like Ben had been the night of the apocalypse - and then the lamp hit him and smashed against his face like he was really there, and Reginald Hargreeves fell to the ground with a _squeal_.

Vanya, of all people, outright laughed - and soon Diego joined in, then Allison, then Five, and soon the entirety of the living Umbrella Academy - even Luther (and probably Ben too) were laughing hysterically as their dead father got to his feet and spat curses at them, calling them disappointments and telling them just how _disrespectful_ they were being. Then, he said something along the lines of _“I raised you all better than this,”_ and Diego literally couldn’t handle it so he fell, sliding down the wall and banging his fist on the drywall. Allison had tears in her eyes, red in the face and laughing so hard she couldn’t seem to catch herself long enough to drag air back into her lungs.

 _“What is the matter with you kids?”_  Oh, Reginald was _frustrated_ now, it was the first time Vanya had seen him yell since she’d refused to water-board Five when they were seven. It was something about how ridiculous this all was - that the man that terrorized them for years, tortured them, _killed_ them in Ben’s case, had been reduced to nothing but a screaming man child that couldn’t hurt them anymore, Vanya had to stop looking at him just to catch her breath long enough to talk.

“Awwww does Weginald need his binkie?” She wheezed, and then went Five, banging his fists on the floor and wheezing next to Diego.

 _“I think-”_ Allison signed to Luther, her legs becoming shaky underneath her, _“I think maybe we should lock him in time out till he calms down!”_ And then her and Luther were both down, followed by Klaus, who slid off the bed and hit the floor.

 _“WHAT DID SHE SAY?”_ Reginald was screaming now, and he tried to push Vanya backwards. Suddenly scared and the last one standing, she jumped back and hit the drywall - but Reginald’s hands passed right through her, and he stomped on the ground and swore like a child. He was throwing a fucking _temper tantrum_.

That was it for Vanya. The whole situation was so ironic she slid down beside Diego and sputtered like a hyena, like it was the funniest thing she’d ever seen. Comedy _gold_.

 _“You should all be ashamed, treating me like this! I took you in when no one else wanted you, built you a mother! I-”_ Just then Ben appeared, ghostly and blue as he drew his fist back and socked Reginald right in the jaw. Their father dropped like a bag of sand cut from a hot air balloon, and the room fell silent for a moment as everybody got caught in the shock of seeing Ben again.

“Summon that, bitch!” Ben spat, like he’d been imagining this for a long time - his revenge. Like he was just _waiting_ for Reginald to show up so he could finally give him what he was due - and then everybody was laughing at their _dead dad_ again, wheezing and gasping with teary eyes and red faces until their throats were raw and their chests couldn’t take it anymore, and then they laid on the floor in the quiet as a _family_.

Klaus giggled. “Maybe I _should_ have mastered my powers sooner.”

And then everybody was laughing again, even though it hurt a tentacle monster ripping at the inside of their diaphram’s (sorry Ben).


End file.
